31 December, 2009

Film schools seem to promise a quick route to the film industry, so let’s for a moment compare the professional feature team’s process with that of a lean, independent production. The differences are significant to directors-in-training, and show up most in schedules and budgets. Professional feature filmpriorities are economically determined. Scriptwriting, though slow, is relatively inexpensive, while actors, equipment, and crew are high cost and used with military precision. Hollywood skills and intelligence are second to none, but the system requires “bankable” stars and highly developed technicians, all able to produce without delay or experiment what is usable and repeatable. During a feature shoot, about 50 to 100 specialists carry forward their particular part of the communal task. Each will have begun as an apprentice in a lowly position and will have worked half a lifetime to earn senior levels of responsibility. Many come from film families and imbibed the necessary mind-set with their orange juice.

26 December, 2009

Thee evolution of chess continues to enhance the love to the game of chess. In Europe Chess spread from Spain northward to France, Germany, England, Scandinavia and Iceland. It became known with extraordinary rapidity, although at first it was confined to the upper classes, the courts of the Kings and the nobility. In the course of time, when the dominance of the nobility declined and the inhabitants of the cities assumed the leading role in the life of people, the game of Chess spread to all classes of society and soon reached a popularity which no other game has ever equaled. While in the early middle Ages the game was played in Europe with the same rules as in the Orient, some innovations were introduced by the European players in the later middle Ages which proved to be so great an improvement that within a hundred years they were generally adopted in all countries including the Orient. The reason for the changes was that in the old form of the game it took too long to get through the opening period. The new form, which dates from about 1500 A.D. and the characteristic feature of which is the enlarged power of Queen and Bishop, is our modern Chess, the rules of which are uniform throughout the civilize World.

21 December, 2009

If you are shooting a sport for the first time and are not conversant with its finer points, ask for help from an authoritative person—someone who’s fanatical about a game will only be too glad to help you. In that situation, it’s not likely you’ll be covering pro sports, but if you have a child involved in a sport you’ve never played and want to photograph him or her in action, ask someone about what to look for. Similarly, if you see an unfamiliar game being played in a park and would like to photograph it, ask a spectator or official about the more interesting points of the game— from a visual aspect at least.

16 December, 2009

Steinitz assumed the title of the World's Champion and defended it successfully against all competitors until 1894, when he was beaten by Emanuel Lasker, who is still World's Champion, having never lost a match. The next aspirant for the World's Championship is the young Cuban, Jose Raoul Capablanca, who has proved to be superior to all masters except Lasker. He entered the arena of international tournaments at the age of twenty-two in San Sebastian, Spain, in 1911, and won the first prize in spite of the competition of nearly all of Europe's masters. In the last international tournament, which was held in Petrograd in 1914, he finished second, Emanuel Lasker winning first prize.

The present ranking of the professional Chess masters is about the following:

1. Lasker, Berlin, World's Champion.

2. J. R. Capablanca, Havana, Pan-American Champion.

3. A. Rubinstein, Warsaw, Russian Champion.

4. K. Schlechter, Vienna, Austrian Champion.

5. Frank Marshall, New York, United States Champion.

6. R. Teichmann, Berlin.

7. A. Aljechin, Moscow.

Other players of international fame are the Germans, Tarrasch and Spielmann, the Austrians, Duras, Marocy and Vidmar, the Russians, Bernstein and Niemzowitsch, the Frenchman, Janowski and the Englishman, Burn. Up to the time of the outbreak of the war the leading Chess Clubs of the different countries arranged, as an annual feature, national and international tournaments, thus bringing the Chess players of all nationalities into close contact. This internationalism of Chess is of great advantage to the Chess player who happens to be traveling in a foreign country. There are innumerable Chess Clubs spread all over the globe and the knowledge of the game is the only introduction a man needs to be hospitably received and to form desirable social and business connections.

15 December, 2009

Ask any sports photographer what he considers the main prerequisites to be an accomplished shooter; “know the sport” will be near the top of the list. Your chances of success are increased when you are familiar with such things as being in the right spot, being able to anticipate the action, and knowing the rules and nuances that enable you to create those definitive images. If you have played a sport, regardless at what level, you have a decided advantage because you know the objectives of the game and the skills needed to achieve them. You will also understand the rules and what’s likely to happen following an umpire’s or referee’s decision. Each sport has those critical moments when key plays are needed to win the game. Knowing what options the athletes have will enable you to prepare for the shot. It might not always come off, but at least you’ll be prepared.

10 December, 2009

The present world war has given great impetus to the game of Chess. In the prison camps, in the field hospitals, in the training camps and even in the trenches Chess has become a favorite occupation in hours of leisure, not only because it offers a most fascinating pastime, but mainly because it serves beyond any doubt to develop what is now the most interesting study for every soldier--the grasp of the principles underlying military strategy and the ability to conceive and to carry out military operations on a large scale. Frederick the Great, Napoleon and Moltke, the great scientists of war, had a decided liking for the game of Chess and owed to it many an inspiration which helped them in laying out their military plans. Indeed, no other game exists which offers such complete analogies to war. Two armies oppose each other on the Chess board, composed of different units which may well be compared with infantry, cavalry and artillery. The success of the operations on the board, which represents the battlefield, does not depend upon any element of chance, but solely upon the ingenuity and the skill of the players who are the commanders-in-chief of the forces. Although a Chess game differs from a battle in that the material strength of the opponents is equal, the order of events is the same in Chess as in war.

09 December, 2009

A hybrid combines two methods for the propulsion of a vehicle. Possible combinations include diesel/electric, gasoline/flywheel, and fuel cell/battery. Typically, one energy source is storage, and the other is conversion of a fuel to energy. As discussed in more detail in the combination of two power sources may support two separate propulsion systems. This is true for the parallel design hybrid. Historians recognize that certain events are milestones. These events can change the course of history. Milestone events divide history into periods. Names are assigned to the periods of history. An example of a milestone event is 9/11, a watershed event in the history of global terrorism. Yet note that 50–60 major terrorist attacks had occurred before 9/11. What are the significant events and periods with regard to hybrid automobiles? Three periods can be defined: ancient, modern, and current. Two events are significant. The first event, which occurred a century ago, was the production of the world’s first hybrid automobile. The OPEC-induced gas shortages of 1973 and again in 1979 constitute the second event. The period between the first and second milestones is considered “ancient.” Ancient history is ancient only relative to hybrids and cars. The period following the gas shortages is considered “modern.” The modern period, of course, ends with the present and ushers in the current period.

07 December, 2009

The preproduction phase most closely mirrors that of the film industry; it is at this stage that the story is developed and honed, the look of the project is fleshed out using art and pre visualization techniques (like storyboarding), and the budget and schedule are defined for the coming production cycle. Although this is called “preproduction” in the film industry as well, in the game industry, preproduction also includes defining all the technical requirements of the game (such as design, art, and features), Prioritizing features and specifying constraints (usually influenced by the budget and schedule), and creating a basic design document. These steps constitute the very roadmap that the production team will follow during the many months of development. If you have not yet developed a prototype of the game, this is also done during preproduction. Though the finished prototype will be a playable level of the game, which can begin as simply as mapping out the game idea on paper. Once the prototype is honed to a coherent representation of the game concept, it is developed into an actual demo.

03 December, 2009

Making a game more “cinematic” is a hot topic in today’s gaming world. For example, writers are now becoming “gaming writers” as the need for more developed scripts becomes more prevalent in production. Also, many film directors and producers are now getting involved with game development because of the need to raise production value in certain titles. Even major game luminaries known for “old-school” methods of game development are turning their attention to cinematic production techniques. The game industry has also responded to this trend by including many of the aforementioned cinematic topics in the major gaming conventions and organizations. For example, the International Game Developer’s Association has now added a top-notch special interest group concerning the subject of game writing, and the 2007 Austin Game Developers Conference had an entire track dedicated to writing for games. The same can be said for current trends regarding game Cinematography and directions.

01 December, 2009

The last ten years have ushered in a whole new era of game development. In addition to the constant influx of new technology and content, the convergence of the film and game industries has pushed game developers to achieve a whole new level of standards in epic gaming. This trend has been illustrated by the increasing number of games that are being optioned into feature films—and more and more films are being translated into video games. Also, with animated features, it is now a common occurrence to see a simultaneous release of a film and game (Bee Movie and Beowulf are just two recent examples). In retrospect, the mash up of these two mediums seems to be a natural one. The gaming industry and the film industry already have many things in common, including similar roles and positions while working in production, comparable production cycles, and many mirrored production concerns. Also, more and more filmmakers are actively becoming involved with the game industry. As this book is being produced, it has been announced that director/producer Jerry Bruckheimer is partnering with MTV to create a game production lab, Steven Spielberg is getting involved with game development, and director John Woo was recently involved with the production of the game Stranglehold for Midway Games.